When Diet and Exercise Don't Work

When Diet and Exercise Don't Work

Some women just can’t lose weight and for the estimated 11 percent of who have a chronic disorder, diet and exercise won’t help at all. Now, some doctors are using a new procedure that can help restore their appearance.

45 year old Victoria Albano knows what some people think when they see her; that she just gave up on herself. “All this working out and exercising and all this taking care of myself wasn’t doing anything.” Albano said.

When she was in her thirties she noticed her arms, and especially her legs, were getting disproportionately bigger. No one knew why until a doctor treating her for an unrelated injury said the word lipedema, a genetic issue affecting the tissue in her limbs. No one is sure what causes it, but doctors think female hormones play a role.

Dr. David Greuner knows how serious lipedema can get. “Lipedema can get bad enough where the patient is basically bed bound.” He said.

Dr. Greuner uses a new procedure, similar to liposuction to remove the dysfunctional fat cells. He makes small incisions in the legs and then first flushes the fat, then suctions it away,leaving blood vessels intact.

“We can’t remove all the lipedemanous fat, ok, it’s not possible, but we can significantly decrease the burden.” Dr. Greuner said.

Albano will have her surgery soon and is excited to have her life and her limbs back. Once a patient has the lipedema surgery it will take about a year to 18 months to see the full effect of the slimming.

Doctors also say certain lymphedema patients who suffer swollen arms because of mastectomy may benefit from the procedure as well.

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